Photo: Courtesy of Parastar Entertainment
Big Ocean brings "Love Sign", a single built around what three men can do with their hands, to 229 on Great Portland Street on Tuesday, the last night of a short European run.
The track takes the oldest chat-up line there is, "What's your sign?", and answers with sign languages instead of star signs. The chorus names them one by one, Korean, American, British, Mexican, Colombian, and the trio sign each as they call it out.
Every line about signing doubles as a line about touch. It is pop R&B with a nu-disco finish, sung mostly in English, and Chanyeon, PJ and Jiseok share the lyric credits with a team led by producer Frankie Biggz, a Latin Grammy winner.
The K-pop trio's new single turns "What's your sign?" into a flirtation in sign language, British Sign Language included. They close their European run in London.
"Some people whisper to flirt. We sign," the trio said when the single came out. "Our hands have always been our voice, and this time they are saying something a little more dangerous."
The chorus is built to be copied, and the group says it can be learned in about ten seconds. That suits their fanbase called Pado, the Korean word for wave, which already answers the stage with its own sign-language cheers, iMBC reported from their American dates.
London gets a line written for the room. British Sign Language is a separate language from American Sign Language, not a dialect of it, and it has its own call in the chorus.
Sign language runs through all of their choreography, not just this single. Korean Sign Language and International Sign are worked into fluid dance lines, the Seoul daily Herald Kyungje reported, and on "Bucket Hat", a 2025 single from PJ and Jiseok, the pair rap with their hands, the Korea Herald reported.
Photo: Courtesy of Parastar Entertainment
Chanyeon is the rapper, PJ the main vocalist and Jiseok, a former alpine skier, the main dancer. In March they released The Greatest Battle, their third mini album, and played its showcase with twenty backing dancers for the first time, CBS Nocut News reported.
All three members are deaf or hard of hearing, and they keep time by feel and sight: a smartwatch pulses the beat against the wrist while a monitor flashes the tempo. The rest is muscle memory, drilled until their bodies hold the count on their own.
In the studio they use AI voice technology alongside their own performances, mapping a guide singer's voice onto the members' vocal tone.
Tuesday is also a make-good. A European tour planned for May and June was cancelled, and many fans were left without refunds, Parastar said. The label has since issued store and ticket credits worth 100% of those purchases, and is running this tour itself.
The trio answered with a song. Back in New York, they began writing "Make It Up To You" that same week, and played it first at an online concert for the fans whose tickets had gone to waste.
In September they took the idea to New York Fashion Week with a denim collection of their own, which Parastar says was a first for a K-pop group. Look closely at the buttons: each one is shaped like a signing hand.
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Big Ocean's new single turns "What's your sign?" into a flirtation in sign language, BSL included. The K-pop trio play London's 229 on Tuesday.